I’m writing this Thursday night from my sleeping bag in the van. A crazy amount has happened since my last post, so details may be sparse.
Monday night was my last night at the hostel. I really bonded with my roommates (Sean, who had been there the whole time, and Meg, an environmental lawyer from Brazil). The next morning I had to get packed up and check out by 10am, so I ran around getting the van ready and all my stuff moved out. I hit Countdown again for some ice for my chilly bin. I had been paying for parking the whole morning for the sake of convenience to load the van, but luckily right as I checked out one of the five spaces in front of Verandahs cleared up and I snagged it. After checking out, Meg and I took, a walk downtown to Daiso Japan where I stocked up on inexpensive household items for van living. There, I found utensils, a knife, strainer, bowl, plate, bungee cords, measuring cup, tupperware, paper towel holder, cutting board, mirror, hamper, spatula, pot, and probably more I can’t remember. After stuffing my backpack to the brim with all said items, we walked a few blocks to the Sky Tower to get a good view of Auckland. Meg used her student visa for me to get the student discount, very kind. We spent awhile above Auckland taking in the view and finding all the landmarks we knew, including Verandahs lodge.
We descended the building and started walking to a nearby park to meet Sean. He saw us from the street and picked us up on our way. We drove across a major bridge to a beach town outside the main city. We walked up and down the beach, played on a swing, and had a jolly time altogether. We had to leave before traffic got bad, but when we got back to Ponsonby we set out again. The park next to the hostel had a few awesome rope swings and a giant slide.
We played around a while and then walked down the street to a pizza restaurant. We waited until the 5pm $5 pizza deal started and put in our order as soon as the clock turned. The pizzas which were normally $9-14 were all $5, and they had a gluten free base for $3. After my delicious $8 pizza (tax is included in prices here and tipping is not part of the culture), I said farewell to my friends and hit the road.
I drove an hour to Tuakau where the Picot family lives. Tuakau is quite rural and their house was beautiful. It turns out the older son Reid, who wasn’t on the flight where I met his mother and brother, is also a mountain biker, and he was immediately stoked for my plans. He volunteered to put me in touch with his buddies in Queenstown, so I already have a crew waiting for me when I arrive. I washed my clothes that evening and hung them out to dry.
I set off the next morning after a lovely stay with the Picot family and made my way towards Rotorua two and a half hours away. When I arrived I hit Countdown at the outskirts of town for groceries. My next stop was a bike shop. I rolled into Bike Culture in the early afternoon, which by chance turned out to be the best shop in town. The owners Rob and Mike immediately took me under their wing and even offered to let me set up my bike in one of the stands. After continuing to chat they invited me on their after work ride, which I excitedly agreed to join them on. They took me to the massive local trail network in Rotorua which has over 200 trails. Rotorua is home to probably the best trails in New Zealand and serves as the venue for one of the three stops of the Crankworx series along with Whistler, BC and Les Gets, France. We rode 17 miles and 2,000 feet of the best trails I’ve ever ridden.
After making it back to the shop I drove back to the trail center for a free hot shower. That night after going to another grocery store for some stove fuel, I made myself a measly bowl of pasta with my new equipment, only the pot was too small to not tip on the burner which made cooking a challenge. At around 10pm I started looking for a quiet place to park and googled “freedom camping rotorua.” My van is self contained which grants me special privileges for overnight camping in public areas. I went to the first few spots, but they were chock full. The third one I tried had a couple spots. Right as I pulled in a sketchy looking guy started knocking on the van next to me asking for help. He then noticed me and asked me to roll down my window which I refused. He spewed some nonsense about how his van was broken and he needed help along with some other phrases that didn’t make sense. I told him I couldn’t help and he gave me a forlorn look and slinked off. My van was unlocked during this encounter which made me very uncomfortable, but I was afraid that if I locked just my door he would try opening the side door. Thankfully he didn’t try anything intrusive.
That night I felt unprepared, inefficient with my setup, unsafe, and generally dismal. After surviving the night I had a slow morning trying to optimize my layout and headed back to the shop. That was today.
I was greeted at the shop by my friends Rob and Mike who generously let me keep my bike inside and use there facilities to get my act together. I did my toiletries, washes some of my new food equipment, and rinsed and filled my fresh water jugs. While I was working, a man named Brian came through the shop. It turned out he ran the shuttle service at the trails, and he extended his coffee run offer to me. When he came back with my drink with few m and ms on top he told me he might have a job for me. He told me to go poke my head in the door at the coffee shop down the street when the owner Morgan showed up at 2pm. He also told me to go back to the trail head at 4pm if I wanted to get shuttled. Stoked, I bought more ice to refill my cooler and continued to improve my inside setup. Rob even dug up an old Troy Lee Designs banner for me to use as curtains in my van, sick! I made a quick lunch for myself and just as I was washing my dishes in the back of the shop Morgan came in. We chatted briefly and I left him my number. He says he’ll get back to me tomorrow or the day after letting me know whether I have a job. I’m looking at 20-25 hours a week washing dishes or working up front. Sounds perfect for my needs. I’ve fallen in love with this place so I might as well not resist the course my trip is taking me on.
I drove to the Warehouse (similar to Costco) and bought a sleeping bag and pillow cause there was no way I was spending another night on the airplane provided pillow and shitty blanket that came with the van. I also got a shade for the windshield, a tarp, and some clothesline material to hopefully make curtains.
I picked up my bike from the shop, drove to the trails, and kitted up. Brian picked me up in the shuttle and refused to let me pay. I ended up getting five laps of the best trails ever and on the last one some locals took me on some illegal out of the way trail. I almost bonked and had to eat my Bobo’s bar, as there was more climbing than I anticipated. We got to the top of another peak just as the sun had set, and by the time we reached the bottom it was pitch black. That part wasn’t fun. I wish I had known how much extra climbing and time the last lap would take. Oh well. Thankfully, I was able to sneak in a shower before they closed at 8:30 and headed back to the van. I’m much better set up now, but also extremely tired and have no patience for detail. Goodnight.
My adventure in New Zealand 